Tickets sell out for the Kiwi version of Burning Man

SOLD OUT: All but a few late-release tickets have been sold for Kiwiburn which takes place near Hunterville in the last week of January. PHOTO/LEWIS GARDNER

Kiwiburn has sold out for the first time.

Held on a farm near Hunterville, the festival is based on Burning Man which is held each year in Nevada. The annual New Zealand version is now in its 13th year and its third in Rangitikei after moving from Waikato.

The paddocks turn into a mini town for five days where this year 1200 "burners" (festivalgoers) will gather for the event based on sharing. No money changes hands during the festival and "burners" bring everything they need for the five days with them. It encourages "radical self-reliance and participation".

Kiwiburn is also a hive of arts projects which get financial support with grants funded by ticket sales.

Media liaison Shelley Watson said all tickets had been sold with just 100 more being released on January 16.

"We capped the population this year allowing for 20 per cent growth," she said. "We need to make sure that that philosophy gets through. So if we allowed for extra it would probably lose what makes it special."

Twenty-seven theme camps have registered with names such as The Fuzzies Doodlebopper Camp, Fabulous Disaster and Home for Wayward Girls and Boys.

"One thing we are developing is a sort of town hall or centre camp," Miss Watson said. "That's where we hold meetings if we need to get the word out about something. What we're going to do is make that a more vibrant area."

There will also be organised art tours for the first time.

"There's a couple of really big art projects."

The event culminates in the burning of the "man" or effigy.

The "Ministry of Public Works" organising crew will move on-site a couple of weeks out from the January 27 start.